Posted
by
samzenpus
on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @12:28PM
from the can-you-hit-me-now dept.

suraj.sun writes "A Verizon customer filed a lawsuit after the tech the company sent out got a little punchy. Instead of fixing the customer's problem, the tech allegedly hit him in the face. The New York Post says the tech attacked the customer after he asked to see some ID before allowing access to the apartment. From the article, '"You want to know my name? Here's my name," Benjamin snarled, slapping his ID card into Isakson's face, according to Isakson's account of the December 2008 confrontation. "The guy essentially snapped. He cold-cocked me, hit me two or three solid shots to the head while my hands were down," said Isakson, a limo driver. He said the pounding bloodied his face and broke his glasses. But things got uglier, Isakson said, when Benjamin squeezed him around the neck and pressed him up against the wall. "He's prepared to kill me," Isakson said. "That's all I could think of." The customer broke free and ran away. The Verizon tech then chased the customer until he was subdued by a neighbor who was an off-duty cop.'"

Exactly. Ive seen some really dumb thugs doing this kind of work. To say they lacked customer service skills is something of an understatement.

Recently, we upgraded my dad's directv service to HDTV and the guy they sent over was somewhat rude, but I didnt care as log as he got the job done. Turns out the job was harder than he thought so he said he was going to his van, left the dish in the snow, and never came back. Yep, he just said "fuck it" and went home. I doubt he got fired.

A little while after that I got Dish network at my place and was talking with the installer. I told him Ive put up dishes before at old places. He looked surprised. he said that they have guys with 5 weeks training that cant even up a dish.

5 WEEKS to mount and point a dish? Wow. These arent the brightest bulbs.

Pointing a dish by eye where you start picking up the signal is not too hard if you do it often. Even an amateur only needs a compass, a level and the software which calculates the elevation and bearing for your approximate position.

Centering the dish with no tools to evaluate signal strength and no reference landmarks except the position of the sun? Buddy, you got taken by a lazy joker who figured out that you can't tell the difference.

Not that hard if you have the signal meter where you can see or hear it.

Exactly. We had a roofing company install the mount {for liability purporses} but I handled signal acquisition. Job took longer than I thought, though, 'cause the client wanted to be right there on the roof while I was doin' it. I'd get full sig, we'd step back, and the strength would drop right back off.

Turns out that the client was heavy enough to bow the roof. With just 130lbs of me up there, it took less than 5 minutes.

Anyone who can't use a compass and signal meter shouldn't be allowed to install an ai

You've got the classic case of fall/winter installations, where the tech doesn't take into account the fact that the dish they just installed is pointing through the branches of a (currently) leafless tree. Come spring, the customer calls in with no signal, and claims damage for holes in their wall, where they should not have been.

Technicians also seem to be fond of drilling holes into carpet, without cutting it first. This is especially fun with Berber, when the entire carpet is one long, braided strand. Yeah for whole-room carpet replacement!

Techs also don't always seem to check for a good line of sight when they should. I had many, many claims where a tech tried mounting the dish in 3, 4, 5, or more spots on a roof, without finding a good signal. That wouldn't be a problem, if they didn't drill holes each time...

Ok, some exceptional stories:

Technician finished a job, no problems, got in the van to leave, and backed through the customers fence.

Technician, weighing ~285lbs, stood on top of customer's washing machine while running cable. Dented the lid badly enough that it wouldn't open.

Technician, doing an installation at an apartment complex, removed 5 DirecTV dishes from the roof. Apparently he didn't realize that Dish's new customer wasn't the only person living there...

Technician, when grounding the system he had just installed, soldered the wire directly to the hot water pipe leading to a shower. It took the customer a month to figure out why they were feeling mild electric shocks when showering.

(And, just to prove customers can be bad, too, this one actually turned out to be the customer's fault...) A customer called in, extremely irate. He claimed that the tech, while installing a box in the master bedroom, went through his wife's underwear drawer, and then urinated in the bedroom. Of course, a claim was opened, the tech almost instantly lost his job, and it seemed that was that.
Well, doing due diligence, the facts of the situation came out. It turns out that the customer hadn't moved necessary furniture away from the walls, as is requested. So the tech, needing access to a coax outlet behind a dresser, opened the top drawer, in order to use the inside of the lid as a handle to pull the furniture out. Right then, the customer came in, assumed the tech was after panties, and pushed the tech into the corner, holding him by the neck and yelling. The tech, terrified, peed his pants.

I really should have blogged these when I still had that job, but I was worried about getting fired.

That's what I was wondering. I'm looking at that photo thinking "why is that photo there? He can't be the tech, he looks mean as hell, like he just got out on parole, is that the customer?" Then I click to read the article and sure enough, that photo is the technician. If he showed up and said "I'm a Verizon Technician" I think I would have asked for ID too.

"Benjamin was arrested and charged with assault"

That's good. But FTFA....

"But prosecutors offered to dismiss the case if Benjamin agreed to stay out of trouble for six months -- despite assuring Isakson there would be no deal, Isakson alleged. "According to what I was told, there was an error by the DA's staff," Isakson said. "They're giving this guy carte blanche to do this every six months."'

Employee snaps and starts beating customers and gets a free pass? Wow, that's just wrong. And this is worse:

"Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company has "zero tolerance for any sort of unethical or illegal behavior" and noted Benjamin was not convicted of any crime. "In the months since this incident, his conduct has been blameless. As a result, we will not take further action," Young said."

W....T....F....? "Well he hasn't beat any other customers so we're not going to do anything" Verizon said. Are you frickin' kidding me? Not only did this guy get no jail or even a fine, but he kept his job?

Hey Verizon, are you hiring? Cuz apparently I have to kill at least 2 or more customers before I'd be fired.

"Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company has "zero tolerance for any sort of unethical or illegal behavior" and noted Benjamin was not convicted of any crime. "In the months since this incident, his conduct has been blameless. As a result, we will not take further action," Young said."

So, in other words, Verizon thinks that the technician's behavior was ethical.

But good job jumping to the conclusion the paper wanted you to jump to, all black men are thugs who just finished doing a bid.

You're an asshole for assuming this is about race. If you look at that picture and the only thing you notice about it is his skin color, then you're far more racist than the GP. Either your first reaction was "black guy! Run!" and you're defending him out of guilt, or you thought "black guy's being oppressed!" and you're defending him against some giant (nonexistent) racist conspiracy.

Yea, I cant really defend his actions, but that customer was probably the 15th straight guy who saw a black guy come to his door and ask for ID.

I'd ask for ID if I saw Eminem rolling up on my sidewalk. You're pretty much an idiot if you don't ID everyone who shows up at your door asking to come inside, whether black or white, young or old, rich or poor. That you want to paint this as a race issue says a lot more about you than it does the person you were replying to.

I let people in without asking for ID. If I'm expecting them to be there, then that's good enough. If I'm not, then I probably don't let them in at all. I see no risk in this. It's not like I'm going to call Comcast and then some criminal claiming to be from Comcast will just happen to show up at my door at the time when the real guy said he would be there.

As well as the fact that the company said no one would be coming inside. How hard would it be for a thug to follow a service van, watch him pull up, see the unit # for the NIU he's working on, and then go to that door. KNOCK KNOCK. Let me in I'm with "insert name here". Customer knows tech should be there. Voila, door opened. Distract customer, or send him to another room, grab something valuable, and then make an excuse to go back to the van. You're in and out in about 2 minutes. I'd ID too. Regardless.

Are you defective? What's so hard or tough about asking for ID? My father-in-law retired from working for the gas company, and he said people used to ask for his ID all the time. If they didn't, he'd tell them they ought to next time. You're not accusing the person or anything; you're just asking them to prove that they're who they say they are. Anyone who works on-site has been IDed hundreds of times and won't think a thing of it.

While it's possible the tech just snapped and went apeshit on the guy (after all, there are violent headcases out there...), why do I get the feeling that there's a whole lot more to the story than we're getting from the victim?...

While it's possible the tech just snapped and went apeshit on the guy (after all, there are violent headcases out there...), why do I get the feeling that there's a whole lot more to the story than we're getting from the victim?...

You mean like the customer consenting to getting beat up, right? Because everyone knows that kicking someones ass is totally within your rights as a citizen of the USA, don't they?

The man obviously made an affront to the tech's honor which the tech was obliged to address. It once was these incidences were decided by a brush of a glove across one's cheek and a dawn meeting, grim and immutable. To merely be bloodied about the nose describes a situation where the homeowner got off lightly. How far we've fallen from the civilized world of yore.

It honestly really doesn't matter -- unless this Isakson character physically assaulted the tech first, it makes no difference how obnoxious or belligerent he was being -- the tech had no right to assault him (even if he totally deserved it). What seems to have happened here is that a somewhat hot-headed tech who was already having a bad day went out to a house, just trying to do his job, and had some smartass give him all sorts of attitude for no reason and get in the way of him trying to get his job done. I have been in many similar situations before and can certainly see how someone of a violent temperament could snap and hit someone, but it certainly does not make it defensible.

I think the key here is that Verizon told the customer that they would be able to fix it without sending a tech out. Then somebody comes out unannounced to fix the problem? He had every right to have his guard up.

What seems to have happened here is that a somewhat hot-headed tech who was already having a bad day went out to a house, just trying to do his job, and had some smartass give him all sorts of attitude for no reason and get in the way of him trying to get his job done.

Nope. Much as I've wanted to punch certain customers when I worked tech support, there's no way this is the victim's fault. If I saw that particular crackhead look-a-like sauntering up to my door, I'd also ask to see his ID before letting him in. How much could the victim possibly have egged him on considering the tech hadn't even made it in the front door yet?

How much could the victim possibly have egged him on considering the tech hadn't even made it in the front door yet?

Well considering that back when I worked tech support I had plenty of calls that started with what could best be described as "a shitstorm of racial slurs (against white people like myself!), accusations of me and all my coworkers being homosexual and other general nastiness" I can definitely imagine that he managed to get out a whole bunch of undeserved crap. Hell, most of those calls I got weren't people who had been without DSL for weeks or anything like that, it would be people who's DSL had gone out mi

"People don't just attack random strangers, there is always a reason."

You're kidding, right? Have you ever worked a job that dealt with the public? Have you ever walked down the street in a major city? Have you ever visited a bar? I've seen plenty of one-sided situations and I suspect a lot of people on Slashdot have also.

The story is ridiculously one sided, and like I said previously, the guy may have been being a total a-hole and may have TOTALLY deserved to be hit, but unless he struck first, there is no justification for a violent response. Even if Isakson struck first, it sounds that the response was above and beyond what was necessary for self defense. There are also many reasons that this one-sided response could be the whole story -- say this guy just caught his wife cheating on him and was right on the edge before he even got there. This guy could just be a violent sociopath with an assault record a mile long. There is not enough information here to really tell, but it does certainly seem at first glance that the tech was almost certainly in the wrong here, I can envision few scenarios in which is behavior would be acceptable.

[the customer] asked to see some ID before allowing access to the apartment

I think you are on to something. It seems more likely the alleged assailant has very strong feelings about the right to privacy and is making a statement about how a national ID card would be against the founding principles of this country; and that such a system does nothing ensure the safety of the public at all as the bureaucrats in Washington would have you believe, but in reality only serves to further the government's agenda towards a police state that will only result in violence towards its own citizens.

Surely, I can't be the only one to have gathered that from the summary?

Probably because there is, however, no matter what the situation was, even if he belittled the guy's mother, you never have the right to cause physical harm to another human being (unless you are Jack Bauer from 24)

You are 100% correct. Its just like the Abner Louima case here in New York City, cops just dont violate people for fun. Not saying that the cops are justified in their actions but some people can only take so much verbal abuse.

That customer must have been a total piece of shit prick and probably even deserved the beating he took. I have dealt with plenty of snobby, nasty, pricks that deserve to be shot in the head and left to rot in the sun. But you just have to keep your cool, and get the job done as fast

The effectiveness of guns, like that of any means of self-defense, is highly situationally specific. I guarantee you this guy had a self-defense tool that's that's part of every New York apartment -- the chain lock -- that, if used, could've prevented this from happening, just as surely as a gun could've. But few people use chain locks before opening their doors. Just the same, your gun would've done you no good if it were in the bedroom closet while the guy was wailing on you. Unless you were hoping to escape from him, then run to your bedroom, get the gun, load it, and manage to shoot the guy before he's on top of you again.

Or do you load a couple rounds and have your gun in hand every time the doorbell rings? Really? Do you leave your gun with bullets in it, lying around where your toddler can grab it readily? Of course you don't, but then there goes its self-defense effectiveness.And if you wear your gun when you answer the door, and the guy on the other side means you harm, you'd better hope you can get the shot off before he's on you, because when he sees that gun he is not going to back down while you're conscious enough to shoot him in the back.

I don't think guns are evil. I believe everyone should know how to shoot and how to handle a firearm, and I absolutely would want a gun in an obviously threatening situation where the firearm is ready and the violence is foreseeable (say, a riot down the street, or a war zone). I just understand that guns are far less effective in realistic self-defense situations than hoplomaniacs believe.

If anything would've kept the victim safer, it'd be having a big dog. Doesn't have to be a particularly vicious breed, just faithful and over fifty pounds. I can only chuckle at what would've happened if this goon had tried to pull a stunt like this near my stepmother's Lab.

The effectiveness of guns, like that of any means of self-defense, is highly situationally specific.

Very true. However, anyone who is conscious about their safety (women in crime-riddled urban areas, perhaps), make sure to keep themselves in situations where their preferred method of self defense is viable.

Unless you were hoping to escape from him, then run to your bedroom, get the gun, load it, and manage to shoot the guy before he's on top of you again.

He shouldn't need to show identification. All Verizon guys walk around with an entourage of hundreds of jumpsuited, smiling techs and assistants. You really can't miss them.

Yea right, My wife had a PGW worker ( Gas Works) knock on the door saying that he needed to check for a possible leakHe was wearing PGW garb but when she asked for ID he said it was in the truck and would be right back. He never did come back.We called PGW asking and they said that no one was scheduled for our address. ALLWAYS ask for ID before letting someone into your house.

So, what do you do when the guy shows you his ID? Let him in? Or do you make a point of always noting down what the ID says, closing and locking the door, figuring out what the company's phone number is, then call them and verify that it is the correct person at your door?

The fact the Verizon tech still has a job is interesting.
"In the months since this incident, his conduct has been blameless. As a result, we will not take further action," Young said.
The lesson here is if you work for Verizon you get to punch the customers as long as you only do it every now and then.

That was my thought too -- I don't think I've ever worked in a job where you could beat the crap out of the customer and still keep your job, even if the DA dropped the charges. I would think even a loud verbal altercation that prompts the customer to complain would be enough to get a warning at least; but physical violence to the point of the poor bastard needing a doctor -- Verizon are idiots for keeping this guy on their payroll and even worse for defending him. I hope the customer wins the lawsuit.

The bad is that in the American legal system you sue whoever has the money. In this case that is Verizon.
The good is that maybe Verizon will think twice about keeping a psycho on their payroll. I think Verizon keeping this guy will show a court that they are not even attempting to weed out the bad actors on their payroll.
I figure the reality is that if this guy snapped once he will again. The next guy (or his relatives) will have a really good case when they sue Verizon. There will be no argument that th

Verizon is also a bad guy who should be punished though. They hired as their agent this guy who assaults customers, and then they continued to retain him after he assaulted customers. Corporatoins are, and should be, responsible for the actions of their agents.

Well its a bad situation. The guy should have been fired for committing assault on the customer. More to the point though is this is a cry for money when verizon is not the person who snapped. He should be going after the tech guy for any damages.

Bullshit. Verizon not only didn't do a background check and hired this guy and sent him to the customer's home (when it turns out they didn't need to even send him in the first place); when the guy beats the crap out of the customer they don't apologize -- in fact they call him "blameless" -- and they don't even fire the guy, practically guaranteeing this will happen again.

Verizon rep: You don't need to see his identification.
Bloodied customer: We don't need to see his identification.
Verizon rep: These aren't the droids you are looking for.
Bloodied customer: These aren't the droids we are looking for.
Verizon rep: He can go about his violent business.
Bloodied customer: You can go about your business.
Verizon rep: Move along.
Bloodied customer: Move along. Move along.

I figure 'Aubrey Isakson' is exaggerating the damage as this did happen in the United States of I'll-Sue-Your-Ass-off-Man !! Like, I worked front-desk in a tourist hostel, who forgot to give a guest his wake-up call. He threatened to sue them for missing his flight, meeting etc. Get the fuck out of my hotel, man !!!

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company has "zero tolerance for any sort of unethical or illegal behavior" and noted Benjamin was not convicted of any crime. "In the months since this incident, his conduct has been blameless. As a result, we will not take further action," Young said.

Wow, they've gotten no complaints from the HUNDREDS of homes they've sent this guy into since "this incident." Makes you feel warm and trusting all over, doesn't it?

Apparently "zero tolerance" doesn't mean the same thing to Verizon that it does where I work. Do they at least give their service techs "___ Days without Attacking a Customer" buttons?

This was in Queens (City of New York). The city government has made it quite clear that only felons are allowed to own weapons there. This wouldn't have happened in a state/city where the Second Amendment still exists. And I agree with you completely. This would have made a great article for the Armed Citizen. It is the one section I always read in American Rifleman.

It also doesn't happen a lot here in Switzerland, where all the adult male natives have assault riffles and ammunition at home (in case the country gets invaded).If the society is shit, banning guns is useless. Just ask the stabbed teenagers in the UK.That said, I don't really want to own a weapon (other than my exquisite collection of kitchen knives).Most of the problems the western world has (drugs, violence) are only symptoms of the decay of a society that has no direction, no leadership, no common consensus, no purpose other than monetary gains.While societies need regulation, laws, the sheer existence of laws (and even strict enforcement) doesn't automatically make those societies safer per-se.Politicians want to make us believe the opposite, though.

it happened in New York...and in accordance with verizons standard operating procedures for the empire state physical violence is the second step to trouble-resolution, right after shouting and gesturing obscenities.the technician may not have been properly trained, and mistook the customer for telco equipment...this happens occasionally and other companies like AT&T can certainly attest that customers, especially if on fire, tend to resemble things like routers.

You know I might agree with you if Verizon had disciplined the employee but considering they are quoted in the article as saying he still works for them I am going to say maybe this is one of those suites that makes sense. I'd prefer to think any company that is going to send technicians to my house would have a no punching the customer "even if he really deserves it" policy but maybe that's just me. You can have the crazed employees in your house that get to punch the customer for something unreasonable li

The company didn't fire him, and the DA declined to press charges. So yeah, he's really pissed off that all he wanted was proof that the guy claiming to be a phone tech really was a phone tech, and he got punched 3 times in the face, strangled, and chased down the stairs. And Verizon is just like "Well he wasn't convinced, we can't punish him, have a nice day sir." Lolsuit is his only option left.

Sure, it's sad you lost your leg, but you wouldn't have made ten million in ten life times

No one is claiming you would have earned that much.. they are claiming that there are going to be ongoing expenses related to the loss of the leg (crutches, maintenance of artificial leg, installing a wheel chair ramp, etc.) and of course you're quality of life is now diminished because you may not be able to enjoy things you used to be able to, etc. And this is only if the hosipital made a mistake it shouldn't have.

No, but hopefully it will cause VZ to be much more careful about the people it sends to my house. BTW, nobody gets a tech sent to their house for a CELL phone. This is either a land line or DSL.

This isn't about justice, it's about getting cash. Twits like this cost us hundreds of dollars a year in medical costs, repair bills, etc. Guess what -- your appliance tech gets to pay for insurance for in case a customer sues his pants off. A doctor gets to pay literally tens of thousands for insurance per year. Yeah, this guy got his face smashed, but now the rest of us will be paying for it. So, let me tip my hat and say: I hope your ****ing nose is crooked for the rest of your life, greedy twit.

Ya you know what, if it means VZ is more careful about who they hire, I think that's a good thing and I'm willing to pay the $0.0001 for it.

The only people whining about suits like this are the scummy doctors and shit companies being held to some kind of standard, and you swallowed their lies hook line and sinker.

Had a similar situation, but as we'd just been burglarized recently, I was a little more worried about who was on the other side of the door.

The maintenance guy saw our shotgun, but as I wasn't in a fire position, waited while I put it back up. Office management wasn't too thrilled and gave me a call, but one explanation and purchase receipt later, t'was all sympatico. At present, they don't come in 'less one of us is there, though, so it may've helped in that regard.